WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.080 Well, good morning, happy Friday, and today is actually Good Friday. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:09.119 And today we're looking at what happened on Good Friday some two thousand years ago. 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:13.199 Our title for this morning's devotion is He Would Not Save Himself. 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:17.359 And we're looking at Matthew chapter twenty-seven, starting in verse thirty-three. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:29.199 And when they came to a place called Galgotha, which means the place of the skull, they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:34.960 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:45.280 Then they sat down and kept watch over him there, and over his head they put a charge against him which read, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. 00:00:45.679 --> 00:01:00.880 Then the two robbers who were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left, and those who passed by derated him, wagging their heads, and saying, You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:04.159 If you are the Son of God, come down from that cross. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:11.120 So also the chief priests and the scribes and the elders mocked him, saying, He saved others, he cannot save himself. 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:16.640 He is the king of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:21.599 He trust in God, let God deliver him now, if he desires him. 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:24.640 For he said, I am the Son of God. 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:30.079 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:45.519 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour, and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, Lima Sabatani, that is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:57.680 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, This man is calling Elijah, and one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:02.239 But the other said, Wait, let's see if Elijah will come and save him. 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:07.040 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:13.439 In verse thirty four, Jesus is offered and tasted some wine, but he would not drink it. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:15.199 Have you ever wondered why? 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:19.919 From its bitter taste Jesus knew, Jesus knew that it had been drugged. 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:27.520 Crucifixion victims were often given a painkiller or poison to ease their suffering or to help them on their way. 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:29.360 Jesus did not want either. 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:34.560 He knew he needed to feel the pain, to suffer, and to willingly give his life. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:38.800 Verses thirty five and thirty six may be the saddest of this passage. 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:42.560 The Roman guards crucified Jesus without really noticing him. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:48.000 They had crucified many others, and this was just another day, another Jew, and another job. 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:56.639 They thought of themselves as they cast lots for his garments and sat down to watch, but they didn't really see what was happening right in front of them. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:59.199 What do you see when you look at the cross? 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:05.360 We too may look at it without emotion, without faith or consciousness of what it means for us. 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:11.439 Only they who see there the sacrifice for their sins in the worlds see what is there. 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:17.840 If you feel nothing when you think of the cross, examine yourself to see if you are truly a Christian. 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:23.039 A Christian should not be able to imagine the cross without strong emotion. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:29.680 Jesus was mocked by pastors by and bystanders in verse 40, 47, and 50. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:38.639 Some of these people may have been the same ones who cried, Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:46.000 Just a week earlier, as recounted in Matthew chapter 21, have you ever wondered what made them change? 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.639 The fact is they weren't changed at all, and that was the problem. 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:57.840 The people in the crowd saw Jesus, but like the soldiers at this crucifixion, they had not allowed Jesus to change them. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:00.159 They saw him, but they didn't know him. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:02.800 Their encounters with Jesus weren't personal. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:06.719 Have you ever been changed by having a personal encounter with Jesus? 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:12.400 Many in the crowd were just going along with the crowd and saying whatever those in the crowd were saying. 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:18.720 George Carlin once said, Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:21.759 We have all seen the mob mentality on the news. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:28.240 This often results in violence with property destroyed or innocent people beaten or even killed. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:31.439 It is very dangerous to just go along with the crowd. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:42.000 Let us take care that our worship of Him is rooted in our own personal experience and independent of what rulers or influential minds today say of him. 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:49.439 Are you truly worshiping from your heart, or are you just going along with the crowd at church or your friends or your parents? 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:51.680 Salvation must be personal. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:56.639 Verse 42 says, He saved others, he cannot save himself. 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:00.959 If we read this, he saved others, but he will not save himself. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:04.000 We understand the central truth of the gospel. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:08.639 Jesus could have come down from the cross, but he chose to die. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:11.360 He chose to take the punishment for our sins. 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:13.759 He chose to be separate from his Father. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.839 He chose to feel the agony of crucifixion and endure the mocking. 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:24.879 He chose to fulfill his Father's plan to redeem his creation and restore mankind's relationship with the Creator. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:27.199 We too must make a choice. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:28.800 What have you chosen? 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:32.319 Have you chosen to believe in Jesus, is who he says he is? 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:34.560 Have you accepted his gift of forgiveness? 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:37.120 Even doing nothing is a choice. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:47.120 So our action this morning is to reread the accounts of the crucifixion above, or perhaps in one of the other gospels, Luke thirty-four, Mark fifteen, John nineteen. 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:50.240 Search your heart to see what you are feeling. 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:53.199 Has Jesus' death on the cross changed you? 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:58.959 Consider watching the movie The Passion of the Christ, which is free on several streaming services right now. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:08.319 And so for our prayer this morning, if you find that you are like the soldiers and some in the crowd who saw Jesus but never been changed, I have great news for you. 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:17.759 Jesus has been waiting for you to come to him and to say you know you are a sinner, and that you accept that he died on a cross to take the penalty for those sins. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:25.759 Your prayer can be something like this Jesus, I have known about you, but I realize now that I have never really known you. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:31.759 I have never allowed the truth that you died on a cross to take the penalty of my sins to change me. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:33.600 I am sorry for my sins. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:34.639 I do believe. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:36.399 Thank you for your sacrifice. 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:37.279 Amen. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:41.759 If you have that conversation with Jesus today, welcome to the family of God. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:48.480 Please speak to someone on our staff who can give you more information about what it means to be a new Christian. 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:54.240 If the thought of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross has meaning to you, thank him for his sacrifice. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:07:00.560 Your prayer could be something like this Dear Jesus, thank you for being willing to die on the cross. 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:04.720 Thank you for refusing the bitter wine that might have given you a measure of comfort. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:07.360 Thank you for paying the penalty for my sins. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:16.800 I pray that I will always worship you from my heart, and because of my personal relationship with you, that I would not simply go through the motions or follow the crowd. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:22.879 I know you could have saved yourself, but it would have meant mankind would have remained lost. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:28.720 Thank you for your sacrifice, which allows me to have a relationship with God and to go to heaven when I die. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:29.759 Amen. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:33.920 Thank you for spending part of your good Friday with us. 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:41.360 We pray that you have a great day meditating and contemplating the power and the meaning of the cross, and we'll see you back tomorrow.